Can the Argos stop Kory Sheets and the Riders?

Thursday's CFL clash sees theSaskatchewan Roughriders travel to Toronto to take on the Argonauts (7:30 p.m. Eastern, TSN/ESPN3), and there are plenty of intriguing ahead of it. Star Riders' slotback Geroy Simon is still out with a nagging leg injury, but Saskatchewan receivers like Weston Dressler (second in the league with 165 receiving yards through two games) and Chris Getzlaf (third with 164) have stepped up to fill the void, and quarterback Darian Durant has been remarkably efficient (a 71.4 per cent completion mark and five touchdowns with no interceptions) despite throwing for just the league's sixth-best yardage total (429 yards). Those are all key reasons why the Riders are 2-0 and the only team at that mark, the first time since 2006 that only a single CFL team's gone 2-0 through the first two weeks. Still, the most crucial story may revolve around if the Argonauts' defence can contain Saskatchewan running back Kory Sheets.

Through two weeks of CFL action, Sheets has been one of the league's most dominant players. He has a league-high 264 rushing yards, with closest competitor Jon Cornish of Calgary a full 50 yards back. Sheets accomplished that by rushing 17 times for 131 yards and a touchdown (7.7 yards per carry) in Week One against the Eskimos and then following that up with 133 rushing yards and a touchdown on 26 carries (5.1 yards per carry) against the Stampeders in Week Two. Overall, he's averaging 6.1 yards per carry, which is remarkable for a back who's seen his level of work. He's the crucial part of why the Riders are leading the league with 147.5 rushing yards per game. Sheets has also added 28 yards on four receptions so far this year, and his receiving totals last year (517 yards and two touchdowns on 49 catches) prove he can be a pass-catching threat out of the backfield. He'll be a tough challenge for the Argonauts' defence to stop.

It's not all about the Saskatchewan offence (averaging a league-best 37.5 points per game and a third-best 363.5 yards per game thus far), of course, as Toronto also has firepower to be reckoned with. Argonauts' quarterback Ricky Ray might be delivering the best performance of any CFL pivot: he's second in the league with 583 passing yards and is substantially clear of leader Henry Burris in completion percentage (71.9 per cent to 58.9 per cent) and touchdown/interception ratio (both have four TDs, but Burris has two interceptions while Ray has none). The Riders will also have to account for Argos' stars like reigning most outstanding player and current league receiving leader Chad Owens and reigning Grey Cup MVP Chad Kackert. The Toronto offence is actually ahead of Saskatchewan's in yards per game (365.5) and has put up a respectable 27.5 points per game thus far. Still, the Saskatchewan defence has been very good so far this year, allowing a league-low 19.5 points per game, so this seems more strength-on-strength than the Riders' ground game against the Argos' rushing defence.

How does Toronto match up against Sheets? Well, not so well from an efficiency standpoint: the Argonauts have conceded 6.4 yards per opposing rush attempt thus far, second-worst to Hamilton's 9.0. It's not like they're allowing a few big gains but forcing teams not to run, either: teams have rushed 41 times against Toronto (tied with Calgary for the most in the league) and have averaged 131.5 rushing yards per game thus far, the second-best total against any team (the Tiger-Cats again trail there with 149.0 rushing yards against per game). Part of that might be the Argonauts' new-look defensive line, which lost all of its starters from last year (including Ricky Foley, who signed with the Riders) and a couple of key backups. There's talent on that Toronto line (they're set to start David Lee, Khalif Mitchell, Kiante Tripp and Jonathan Williams against Saskatchewan), but the Argos are still figuring how to get their linemen to gel into a cohesive unit. Their success or failure to do that may determine if they can contain Sheets Thursday, and the outcome of that battle may well turn the tide of this game.